The present invention relates to the extraction of xanthine stimulants from cocoa, more especially from a cocoa material swollen by adding water.
Cocoa contains certain methyl-substituted xanthines such as theobromine and caffeine which have stimulating properties, and it is often desirable to prepare a cocoa product substantially free from such substances. In this invention, these stimulating substances are referred to as xanthine stimulants.
U.S. Pat. No. 3 923 847 describes and claims a method for the production of cocoa butter from cocoa mass or from roasted or unroasted cocoa nibs comprising the step of contacting said cocoa product with a food-acceptable solvent gas which is supercritical in respect of temperature and pressure for extraction of said cocoa butter by the solvent gas, and removing the solvent gas bearing the cocoa butter from the residue of said cocoa product.
There is only a very small fraction of water naturally present in the cocoa and no water is used in the process of the above mentioned patent. We have repeated the process described and have found that less than 1% of the xanthine stimulants is extracted with the cocoa butter. Suprisingly, we have now found that by carrying out a similar process but using a cocoa material which has been swollen by adding at least 0.1 part by weight of water per part by weight of cocoa product, the amount of cocoa butter extracted is very small whereas a large proportion of the xanthine stimulants is extracted.